Ideas para disfrutar la rica temporada de octubre…
71 Monell Avenue
Islip, NY 11751
T: 631-581-5933
F: 631-581-8429
71 Monell Avenue
Islip, NY 11751
T: 631-581-5933
Category Archives for Entertainment
Tabletop Role Playing Games
Some of my best friendships were made during my teen years sitting around a table pretending to be a half-elf druid with a Warg as a pet. I am still friends with the people I played Dungeons and Dragons with, and the game has become a staple of my adult life. Dungeons and Dragons is just one of the many awesome tabletop games that can be played with many people, but it happens to be my favorite. As an avid gamer and mythology lover, anything to do with ancient myths (especially Greek or Norse), and mysteries is right up my alley. Tabletop gaming allows the creative type to unleash their imagination and have loads of fun, especially as the Dungeon Master, where your friend’s (character’s) fates are literally in your hand.
Some of my other favorite tabletop games are Werewolf, Call of Cthulhu, Munchkin, Apples to Apples, and Adventure Time Love Letter. I also enjoy playing the MMORPG World of Warcraft, which takes you to the warring realm of Azeroth, and reading about the Drow Elf Drizzt Do’Urden and his tumultuous life in the Forgotten Realms series. Tabletop gaming is an incredibly fun way to meet new friends, read some awesome stories, and create your own world or characters, places, and scenarios. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
Your library is the perfect place to learn how to play tabletop games, make new friends, and discover something that you will enjoy for years to come. Remember to stop by our Teen Room to check out our upcoming program calendar and flyers too.
Follow us on Instagram: @isliplibraryteenroom for updates and program information!
August is National Deli Month – Who Knew?!
Back when I was a kid almost no one had air conditioning. We lived on Long Island, and as we all know, August on Long Island is soupy and swampy - a sauna. My childhood home wasn’t anywhere near the water where one could find a breeze - our house was smack in the center of the Island. On the rare occasion when you actually felt a breeze, it was newsworthy. There was not a breath of air - no relief from the dogdays of August. Sure, we went to the beach sometimes, but there were days when it was actually too hot even to do that. You could cool off in your backyard pool if you were lucky enough to have one, but sometimes the sun beat down so hard on the water that it provided little relief. Watering the plants with the garden hose and running through the sprinkler worked pretty well, but how long could you do that? We could have visited the public library to get cool, but our library was located in a small storefront with one wholly inadequate window air conditioner. Not much relief there, though I do remember that it offered a water fountain with icy cold water. A trip to an air conditioned store was a very exciting proposition, but you had to endure the car ride there and back. Needless to say, almost no one had a car with air conditioning either – we certainly didn’t. By the time you got back home any cooling effect you may have enjoyed had been completely eliminated - along with your hairstyle - since the car windows were rolled down all the way. (Kids, we used to roll down the windows by hand). Sometimes, if you were on a highway, you thought you would get blown right out the car window. (There were no seatbelts either, but that’s another blog post for another month.)
As many overwrought and overheated moms did back then, my mother instituted occasional deli nights in the summer. We had salads, cold cuts, and rolls from the deli – a special treat indeed since it was, as my mother would say “rather dear” and necessitated cuts elsewhere in the already strained household budget.
Clearly, the moms of the 60s and 70s were way ahead of their time, because only three years ago, in 2015, Ziggy Gruber (aka the “Deli Man”) designated August as National Deli Month. Check out the article at this link.
Ziggy instituted this month as a way to promote and expand awareness of Jewish delicatessens and deli food, but I can’t help but think that he chose August for the celebration because he remembered sweltering summer days from his childhood too.
Many of us now enjoy air conditioned homes (and cars) so we could in fact continue to cook in August. But it’s National Deli Month, so who needs to?! Besides, who doesn’t love a nice pastrami on rye with coleslaw and a pickle on the side?! Enjoy!
(PS – the Islip Public Library has excellent air conditioning – stop in and stay awhile)
Summer Solstice – It’s Almost Here!
The Summer Solstice arrives this year at 6:07 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) on Thursday June 21st! It’s the beginning of summer….finally. After a long, cold, snowy, rainy winter and spring, I know we are all hoping for a nice stretch of beautiful weather.
Each year, the date and time of the Summer Solstice varies between June 20 and June 22, depending on when the Sun reaches it northernmost point from the equator. Summer Solstice is the day we enjoy the greatest number of daylight hours of the whole year – the longest day. It’s also the day with the highest sun intensity so you’d think it would also be the hottest day of the year, but of course we know that’s not the case. It takes the land and the oceans a bit longer to warm up. That usually happens toward the end of July or the beginning of August in our Northern Hemisphere.
Much interesting folklore surrounds the Summer Solstice. Since ancient times, people have celebrated the magnificence of the Solstice in a variety of ways. The Summer Solstice is associated with a renewal of mind, body, and spirit. In fact, the ancient Greeks counted the Summer Solstice as the first official day of their new year. The Mayans and Aztecs honored the day by building new structures employing the specific alignment and shadows produced by the Sun on that date. The ancient Chinese celebrated by paying tribute to the Earth, femininity, and the yin energy of yin/yang philosophy. Today practitioners of yoga (which is defined as a blending of mind, body, and spirit) congregate in New York City and spread out their yoga mats in Times Square to practice together en masse! One of the grandest celebrations of the Summer Solstice happens every year at the ancient archaeological site of Stonehenge in Great Britain, where druids, mystics, and thousands of Sun worshippers witness the golden sunrise as it perfectly aligns between these mysterious ruins.
For most of us, the Summer Solstice simply marks the beginning of that wonderful time of year when we can slow down a bit and soak up the warmth of the Sun once again. Long Island is a wonderful place to spend a summer day. There is no shortage of beaches, parks, trails, and adventures to enjoy!
Please put the Library on your list of places to visit this summer. Check out our summer programs, borrow a free museum pass, or investigate the many local attractions you can explore this summer. We also have discounted tickets to several places of interest: the Riverhead Aquarium; the Long Island Game Farm; and the Museum of Natural History. Newsday produces the jam-packed Fun Book each spring with a wide variety of ideas for summer fun, including listings of places to boat, swim, fish, surf, hike, play sports, and see shows, as well as listings of museums, shopping areas, restaurants, B&Bs, wineries, and special events. Ask to see the newest edition at the Reference Desk! While you’re in the Library stock up on some good beach reads to tuck into your beach bag as well as some audio books or music CDs for your next road trip, and DVDs for a rainy (or too hot!) day. Spend some time perusing a newspaper, magazine, or book in one of our rocking chairs under an umbrella on our new outdoor Library Terrace. Join one of our Summer Reading Clubs - there’s one for children, teens, and adults too! Learn how to download free library ebooks, audio books, and magazines onto your electronic device. Speaking of electronic devices, did I mention there’s wifi on the Terrace?! We even have iPods and laptops that you can check out to use while you’re here.
For more suggestions of fabulous, nearby summer fun check out these websites:
Have fun and stay safe this summer!
Mayo en Nueva York
Si te gustan las ferias, la historia, los animales o el baile, aquí hay algunas ideas para ti…
¡Felices Pascuas!
Mientras esperamos la llegada de la Pascua, aquí hay algunas actividades que puedes disfrutar...
Rats Aren’t Yucky: The Benefits of Having a Pet Rat
There is a huge difference between a wild city rat and a pet fancy rat! Pet rats cannot transmit a lot of the same diseases that wild rats can, and respectable breeders have their babies tested for illnesses, like the Hanta virus, before they are allowed to go to a new home. Pet rats are bred for temperament and companionship and do not exhibit any wild characteristics, other than really liking human food!
Pet rats are clean, smart, and make wonderful companions. From being great therapy animals, to helping find and deactivate land mines, animal lovers would be wise to give a pet rat a chance! Their companionship is highly rewarding and there is a good reason why the rat is the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac. Here are some amazing things about pet rats that may (or may not!) surprise you.
- 1. They can learn tricks, including their names and are pretty easy to train. They can also be litter trained with good motivation.
- 2. They are actually very clean animals and spend hours during the day grooming themselves and their cage mates.
- 3. Rats are very affectionate and cuddly! They really enjoy getting time out of their cages to spend with you and are very social animals.
- 4. Rats are actually less likely to bite than other small furry animals because of their intelligence!
These are just a few of the many wonderful things about pet rats, but, keep in mind there are a few downfalls as well, such as longevity and potential medical costs because they need a special vet. No one pet has a perfect score, but pet rats get as close as possible and really do make great companions, especially for children.
If the topic hasn’t scared you off, there will be a chance to meet a pet rat at the Islip Public Library on Monday March 12, a handsome year and a half old male rat named Marshmallow, aka Mooshie. Why don’t you come down and meet him! He’ll be in the Children’s Room with me, his human.
For additional information on heroRATS and all of the amazing things they do, visit apopo.org
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